Worldwide Depression - - Think Again!

World-wide depression? Maybe for those over-leveraged in the auto
industry, housing, and other fixed assets with huge debt loads but definitely
not for those involved in world-wide industrial projects from what I read &
see happening. Many investors are obviously running scared and you can’t blame
them with the endless media fear mongering going on and especially from the new
US
President and his so called dream team. What I see is possibly the greatest
opportunity in our lifetimes for base metals mining investment and at
unbelievable over-sold, fire-sale conditions.
There’s a lot more for people to consider than just all the fearsome
media & political commentary at work. Please bear with me and read on.

SUGAR LAND--March 3, 2009--Researched by Industrial Info
Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Engineering and construction firm KBR
Incorporated (NYSE:KBR) (Houston, Texas) has reported a fourth-quarter 2008 net
income of $88 million, up 23.9% year over year, on strong revenue across the
board, especially in the Services business unit. Net income for the year
totaled $319 million, compared with $302 million in 2007. As part of our International Industrial
Database, Industrial Info is tracking 43 active projects worth $42.1 billion
involving KBR. The largest of the projects is a $12 billion grassroot refinery
in Saudi Arabia that Industrial Info has been
monitoring since March 2006. Source:
www.industrialinfo.com

CORDOBA, ARGENTINA--February
3, 2009--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar
Land, Texas)--Brazilian mining
company Bahia Mineracao Limitada (Salvador) is
planning to develop a $1.6
billion iron ore project in the state of Bahia in northeastern Brazil. The
Pedra de Ferro project, to be located about 32 kilometers south of the city of Caetite, entails the
construction of an open pit mine and concentrator to process 25 million tons of
iron ore per year.

*MTA Pushes Forward with Phase I of $16 Billion Subway Project in New York City Creating
Hundreds of Long-Term Construction Jobs:

SUGAR LAND--February 27, 2009--Researched by Industrial
Info Resources (Sugar Land,
Texas)--During a time of almost
daily announcements of banks failing, industrial giants begging for federal
financial aid and major companies initiating layoffs and job cuts of epic
proportions, finding places where long-term employment is virtually guaranteed
is a rarity. However, in downtown New York City,
such a place exists thanks to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) (New York, New York) and
its construction arm, MTA Capital Construction (New York)

SUGAR LAND--February 25, 2009--Industrial Info Resources (Sugar
Land, Texas) is currently tracking more than
5,300 industrial projects totaling $301 billion in the U.S. scheduled to begin
construction in 2009. This number, while high, represents a 1.3%
decrease in planned project starts that were measured for a similar study in
2008. Project fallout in 2009 is expected to be high as economic conditions
force project owners to hold on to cash and defer projects out between six and
12 months. Source: www.Industrialinfo.com

BEIJING--February 9, 2009--Researched by Industrial Info
Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Following the official kickoff on December 16,
2008, construction of the Yangjiang nuclear power project, the largest nuclear
power project in China, has been progressing smoothly in southern China's
Guangdong province. The majority of the civil work construction is complete,
according to China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC) (Shenzhen). Source: www.Industrialinfo.com

BANGALORE, INDIA--January 19, 2009--Researched by Industrial
Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The prevalent worldwide financial crisis
notwithstanding, the ongoing 4th Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit 2009 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, saw 444
memorandums of understanding being signed on day one, with the nation's
industrial movers and shakers pledging to invest $152.8 billion across several
sectors in the state. The total value of investment commitments made on the
first day exceeds what was pledged during the 3rd summit in January 2007, when
363 memorandums were signed for projects worth $94 billion. Source: www.Industrialinfo.com

*China Power
Investment Signs Agreement with Hunan Province to Develop $8.76 Billion in Power Projects:

BEIJING--January 16, 2009--Researched
by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--China Power Investment Corporation (CPIC) (Beijing) and the government of Hunan
province have signed a strategic-cooperation framework agreement for power
projects in Hunan.
According to the agreement, CPIC will
invest $8.76 billion to promote the construction of power projects in the
province. Source: www.Industrialinfo.com

*Note: You can
receive free daily alerts from Industrial Info.com by subscription on their website.
This is an
invaluable tool when you try to guage the economic pulse of the world in
general.

*Worldwide Pipeline Report:

P&GJ's latest worldwide figures that indicate 160,136 miles of
new and planned oil and gas pipelines are under construction and planned.

In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has now
received combined licence applications for 26 new reactors

-Rising
demand for electricity and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could
drive an almost fourfold jump in nuclear power reactors under operation
worldwide by 2050, the Paris-based Nuclear Energy Agency said last year.

-The
agency forecast the number of functioning nuclear reactors in the world could
rise to 1,400 by 2050, from 439 now, while nuclear power's share of total
electricity production worldwide could grow to 22 percent, from 16 percent
today

-China- Following the roll out of the
State Council’s stimulus package, the National Energy Administration announced
large sets of projects including power plants, oil refineries and a second
west-east gas pipeline. Construction on the eastern section of the RMB142.2
billion pipeline began in February in Shenzhen. Construction on the western
segment began last year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2009.
When operational in 2011, the 8,704 kilometer pipeline will cross 15 regions
and carry 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year to Zhejiang, Shanghai, Guangdong and Hong Kong.

-The
government has already approved the construction of 10 nuclear power reactors
with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts each according to statements released by the
NDRC last November. In addition, China plans to "start building
eight more nuclear power plants in the next three years, with 16 reactors whose
total installed capacity will surpass 10 GW," NEA officials told state
media in early February.

*Infrastructure Spending to Jump Worldwide:

This
year governments around the world will spend 2.9% of world GDP on
infrastructure, up from 2.2% in 20087according to Infrastructure Investor, citing projections
for 2009 compiled by consultancy CG/LA. Norman Anderson.

Washington D.C. based consulting firm, CG/LA.
Norman Anderson, predicts global infrastructure spending will jump 0.7% this
year (or increase by an additional $280 billion),according to Infrastructure
Investor. The firm says the push for renewed infrastructure will be led by
developed countries, although China
(which unveiled plans in November 2008 to spend $586 billion on infrastructure
investment over the next two years) will be a notable exception to this trend.

Right
here at home, CG/LA foresees that the U.S. will carry out roughly $190
billion in infrastructure spending, notes Infrastructure Investor. The
firm also believes that President Obama’s proposed Infrastructure Bank will
become a reality.\

China’s Infrastructure Spending:

As I write this
and was about to give a figure of the previously stated $600 Billion spending
package that China had planned for 2009, I’m told they are going to update that
figure publicly tomorrow. I’d bet odds
money that $600 B will be increased substantially. We’ll see.

Ok! Enough of that for now. Considering that we have not even covered many
of the Canadian, Russian, Brazilian, Indian, Saudi, African (etc) mega projects
in the works as there are so many more examples of billions being spent in
worldwide Industrial Projects thru and beyond 2009 that I could go on for pages.

The point is that all these
projects and many, many others not mentioned herein (ie: Railroads in China,
Bridge Construction projects, Refineries, Ship building, Military, etc etc) are
going to weigh heavily on base metal demand this year and for years to come and
current base metal supply has been curtailed big time over the last few months
with mine closures and new mines dead in the water because they are unable to
obtain Capex funding. This is fast
becoming a huge set-up for rapid gains in Metals prices going forward. Keep in
mind it isn’t just low metals prices that are spurring this growth. Most were in planning stages long before the
down-turn and now with depressed metal prices there will likely be an onslaught
of new ones coming to light.

Now Consider The Smart Money:

So where has the so-called “Smart Money” been moving over the 3-4
months?

Contrary to many retail investors knowledge it’s been flowing quite
substantially into Private Placements and “Bought” financings in Jr &
Mid-Cap mining Co’s. Consider that
roughly speaking, over $400 M has been laid out in this sector over the recent 4
months, much of which has gone into the Jr’s with Gold & Base Metal
projects of merit. Why is this happening when the mining sector is at what
“appears” to be an all time low in terms of confidence & interest to the
general investor? Because it ‘IS’ smart money and not unlike the
continued investment in the Oil/Gas exploration sector, those who are quietly
investing this money in Base Metal miners see what many don’t, and are just too
nervous because of all the negativity out there.

I could give a long list
of some of the co’s that have completed P/P’s and bought deals since Sept /08
up to the end of Feb/09 for those who want names but this editorial would
become far to long. Let’s just say there
are over 30 Jr’s in the mining sector that I found with little effort, all of whom
have completed their Financings & P/P’s with no difficulty.

Most of these recent Jr financings have been in the range of $100K to
$300-$400K and even a few whom garnered much more. If
you’d like a list of some of those I’ve researched, or wish to participate in
future Private Placements of Jr Gold & Base Metal companies I’m affiliated
or involved with send me an email.

Bought Financings:

I myself had no realization that there were any “bought” financings
currently being done until a little bird spoke to me and I started doing some
research. We all know that when a
financing is done as a “Bought” deal that somebody either knows something or
they think they do and consequently the public doesn’t even have the
opportunity to participate before it’s already done. To me this is a big confidence signal that
things are not nearly as bad as many would have us believe. From all the data I can find the total amount
of bought deals over the last 4 months is well over $5 Billion to a possible $7
or $8B if one digs deep enough. All this
is being done with little to no fan-fare by mining media.

Related News:

Another fact just released by BNN.com today states that Canadians
invested $1.8 Billion in Mutual Funds in Feb /09 alone. We all know that money goes straight into the
stockmarket. Sounds to me like another sign of market confidence out there
somewhere.

MetalBulletin.com 04 March 2009 11:29

LME: prices are well supported at present, with LMEX rising 2.8% day-on-day
to 1,728. The appreciation is heavily influenced by expectations that China's
stimulus packages will boost metals demand.

Signs of a recovery of the nation's economy persist, with the February
PMI (which is a proxy for metals demand) rebounding to 49.0, from 45.3 (values
below 50 still reflect a contraction). The production sub-index rose to 51.2,
showing expansion for the first time since June 2008.

Copper Today:
Up $0.11 @ $1.70 p/lb. Stark contrast to price over the last few months. Copper
is always considered the bell weather metal for growth, but then the Auto,
Housing. & Commercial Const industry are the key end users of Copper, so
maybe the Copper price may not give sufficient warning for higher Base Metal
prices this time around.

More Infrastructure/Copper News Just Out:

Copper Jumps to 3-Month High; China May Boost Stimulus
Spending

By
Millie Munshi

March
4 (Bloomberg) -- Copper prices surged to the highest in three months on signs
that China
will boost government spending to revive its economy, increasing metal demand.

LUSAKA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's
Standard Chartered Bank has said the stimulus package in the United States and China will increase demand for
copper and prices should appreciate, Zambia Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

The 787 billion U.S. dollars stimulus
package in the United States will include expenditure on
copper-intensive projects such as public transport and school buildings while
China has a stimulus package of 568 billion dollars to boost the
infrastructure market, which is copper-intensive, the newspaper said.

China's
Spending Spree Likely To Include Canadian
Companies

Duncan Mavin, Financial Post Published: Wednesday,
March 04, 20

HONG KONG - Asia's dealmakers say
a Chinese resource spending spree will accelerate throughout the next 12
months, with Canadian mining and energy companies likely on the shopping list.

Chinese
buyers have already scooped up US$70-billion worth of global resource assets so
far this year, as Beijing looks to secure its energy and resource future by
spending some of its US$2-trillion in foreign exchange reserves.

The
overseas buying trend will pick up steam in the months ahead, according to China and Hong Kong-based corporate dealmakers,
investment bankers and private equity players surveyed by Royal Bank of Scotland and
Mergermarket. (Excerpt)

In Summation, I’d say for any investor looking to
regain some of the massive stock market losses we’ve all had, one should take a
much broader look at fundamentals of worldwide industrial growth and quit
dwelling on the financial turmoil & negativity caused by Wall St &
Bankers greed, Politicians endless posturing, as well as the turmoil caused by
the mortgage crisis and keep your eyes focused on how and why growth in all the
varied industrial sectors of the World will
be the main factor for renewed and possible rapid & sharp increases in
the demand and pricing of Base Metals in the months ahead. There are exceptional Jr Miners with base
metal projects out there trading for mere pennies compared to last two years
highs.

Some predict Wars, others predict the end of Fiat money, the Banking
system and World-wide depression or even worse.
Well folks, “Chicken Little” is a children’s fictional character and the
Sky isn’t falling from my contrarian viewpoint, but Base Metals are finite and the world grows and
moves steadily onward regardless of anyone’s prognostications, including my own.